Texas BBQ Spring Break

Some of you may have seen my request in the travel forum for ideas on a Texas BBQ Spring Break. I appreciate all the input and we ended up with a great trip. My 15 year old son and 13 year old daughter had never visited Texas before.

Sunday
We were planning to visit the San Jacinto Battleground on Sunday. On our drive through the oil refineries we were stopped and told that the road was impassable due to a recent fire. We quickly decided to visit the Space Center instead and rerouted ourselves. Rather than eating crappy cafeteria food at lunch, we found the closest BBQ restaurant – Lukas Barbecue and Steakhouse. This one wasn’t a scheduled stop but not bad BBQ. I had some very good pork ribs and my son loved the brisket sandwich. He was a huge fan of the sauce.
The Johnson Space Center was great. We went on both tram tours and saw some very historic landmarks. It was a full day for us as I eat this kind of thing up.
For dinner we went to Killen’s. The line was fairly short when we got there. This was the only place I was able to get a beef rib. I loved it and wish I could get them at more places. It’s not even easy to make at home since it’s a special order from the butcher.

Monday
We visited the Houston Natural History Museum. That was another full day. I highly recommend the Death by Natural Causes Exhibit. We had a lunch of very good tacos at Bodegas Taco Shop instead of the museum cafeteria. The museum district was extremely charming and we loved walking around Centennial Gardens.
For dinner we went to Luling City Market. There was no line and some very good BBQ. I really liked all the BBQ I ate in Houston. The beef rib at Killen’s was best of the bunch.

Tuesday
We drove to Lockhart and arrived at Kreuz Market for lunch. This place was huuuge. The town is not big and it looked like they could seat most of it at once. The aroma at Kreuz was awesome. The brisket was next level up from Houston. They had a little sign saying they had pork belly burnt ends so I added some to our order. It had this gooey BBQ-mustard sauce which was killer. Maybe the best thing I ate all week?
Next we drove to San Antonio (I enjoyed legally driving 85MPH and the kids were laughing at the 65MPH exit ramp signs) where we enjoyed the Riverwalk, the Alamo tour (best tour guide I’ve ever had and strangely reminded me of Daniel Johnston) and some Tex-Mex food.

Wednesday
We spent most of the day visiting the Missions, relaxing in the pool and eating In-n-Out Burger.

Thursday
It was on to Austin and the traffic. Oh the traffic! From my research it looks like Austin has about doubled in population in the last 20 years and from the traffic it looks like it about quadrupled. I was on the fence about waiting in line at Franklin but since we were going all the way to Texas for BBQ, I wasn’t going to miss out. We left early from San Antonio and arrived at Franklin just after 9. We started eating at about 12:15. Since we all knew what to expect, the wait wasn’t a big deal. We met people from all over the country while waiting in line. The line is so organized, you know you’re going to eat, you can drink beer, relax, the weather was nice, etc. It was kind of a fun experience. My daughter, up until this point, had been mostly eating mac and cheese at these places. They laid out some brisket samples before we ordered and she had some. She said, “oh wow, I can see why someone would want to eat that”. Melt in your mouth delicious and the best brisket of the trip. The ribs were spicy so the rest of my family was not a fan and I had them to myself. The sausage was really great. But the brisket, that was the best.
Thursday afternoon we went on a visit of the UT campus. Absolutely beautiful campus. No BBQ for dinner that night. I couldn’t eat after stuffing myself at Franklin.

Friday
Friday morning we went for a short hike near Barton Springs. It was a really pretty and relatively secluded place. You can actually see water shooting up from underground which was cool. For lunch we went to El Arroyo for tacos. Friday afternoon and evening we went to Rodeo Austin. We enjoyed this. The rest of my family had never been to a rodeo before so it was quite a novelty. I was a bit surprised at how much the ladies dressed to impress there. It’s like the Texas equivalent of a Las Vegas nightclub.

Saturday
Saturday morning we got up early and drove to Lexington. I really enjoyed seeing a place like this, in the middle of nowhere cooking world class food. Good food need not be complicated. We waited probably 90 minutes, maybe two hours. Who knows? The charm of the place was worth it. Everyone was in a good mood. There was a cooler full of beer for us. Awesome. I took a bite of the ribs and immediately said, “those are the best ribs I’ve ever eaten”. No question. The brisket was great but I’d rank it just slightly below Franklin. Almost everyone there had travelled a fair bit to eat there. Two places ahead of us in line some guy was filming a documentary. The place is amazing and Tootsie is like a living piece of folk art. What else can I say? I’m so glad I went.
Then it was back to Houston for the flight home. So much BBQ…

Some photos of the trip. And yes, we wore the matching shirts my daughter made for us…

Snows
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Snows Cooker
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Snows Pits with Tootsie on the left.
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Me about to eat at Franklin
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My son about to eat at Kreuz
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Kreuz Pits
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Daughter unhappy at Luling City Market
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Beef rib at Killen’s
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Sounds like a fun, packed trip. You certainly hit some of the best of the best BBQ joints for sure.

For a first time trip to TX, that was a great approach/theme. I’ve traveled across and around most of the State (it’s been a long time) and couldn’t have done it better.

Never made it to Austin, which most people seem to love. The traffic sounds pretty awful. Hard to imagine it’s worse than Houston and the Dallas Metroplex…but maybe.

Thanks for sharing.

RT

Looks like a wonderful trip Smarty Clown! Jealous that you went to Franklin’s. Serious question, was the brisket that much better than the others that it was worth a 3-hour wait? Put another way, would you do it again?

Excellent report – I love this jaunt through Texas. (I was born and raised in San Diego, then worked on the East Coast and in Denver, but now I’m an unabashed Houston and Texas cheerleader.) Glad you had a great time and ate the best BBQ one earth. Your itinerary is excellent and I’m glad you made it to the Johnson Space Center: my kids love it and I probably love it more. Seeing the Saturn V rocket up close is awe-inspiring.

And you are 1,000% correct on Austin traffic. It has become unbearable and, in my experience, worse than anywhere else in the state. The traffic in Houston can be awful, but unless you live in certain suburbs, it’s mostly avoidable. I experience very little of it. By contrast, in my experience getting to the heart of Austin is very often a slog. I’m surely biased, but I also vastly prefer Houston to Austin as a city.

Awesome. Heading to Austin with the family for a few days. Good info. Gonna pre order my food for franklins

Is Franklin that much better? No. The food was excellent everywhere. But Franklin seems like more of an event, a celebration of BBQ, if you like.

If I was heading to Austin with a group of friends, I would definitely go. Bring a cooler. Embrace the line.

I agree that its something that’s fun to do, especially if you’re waiting with friends. The first time I went was when I was there for a bachelor party, and we lined up early while we were all hurting from the night before. It ends up being a blast just hanging out and shooting the breeze with people and drinking beer, knowing that you’re going to have some awesome bbq at the end of the wait.
Good to hear that you were able to hit Lockhart, like you said its such a small town and its so neat that there’s multiple spots for killer bbq. Kreutz was actually closed when we were there but we hit Black’s and Smitty’s and really enjoyed them both. While walking around the town square we heard live music coming out of some small storefront, so we popped in and my brother ended up jamming with a couple local musicians when they were rotating people in. Such a fun day that I’ll never forget.
I was in Austin for my brother’s wedding a couple weeks ago and we checked out a couple places I’d never been before: Valentina’s (which is a tex-mex bbq stationary trailer that was awesome), and Cooper’s in downtown (which wasn’t mind-blowing but hit the spot for a convenient bbq lunch). As you mentioned, traffic just continues to get worse… they’re definitely late in their efforts to catch up with the population boom the city experienced.

With a group, AVOID the line and pre-order at Franklin. That line is a non-starter for me (but I do think their BBQ is better than most).

I HOPE THIS IS OKAY TO POST - I went on a couple of BBQ Tours in recent years and wrote up the results. Hopefully this gives some perspective on the various places. Here is the first trip which was in Dec 2016:

I’ll start with some overall observations and questions from my four days in Austin and driving to/from Houston and touring around the Austin area:

  • While I’m sure many things are bigger in Texas, the undisputed “biggest” is the 50 pump gas stations! Do 50 people really all need gas at the same moment in time at the same exact place?

  • After driving the hill country and seeing all the large and fancy ranch gates along the highway, is the new version of “all hat and no cattle”, “all entrance gate and no cattle”?

  • Is road construction the largest employer in Texas? Seemed so with road work virtually everywhere.

  • So many BBQ shacks. But even more taco shacks and trucks and campers. Infinite numbers…sounds like another trip idea!

Day 1 - Tried to go to Franklin, bailed on the 3-hour wait, and got out of Austin:

  • Started at Franklin BBQ at 9:45. Opens at 11:00. Lady came and said I was 3 hours from ordering where I stood. So I said see ya, and went to:

  • Louie Mueller (Taylor) - wow. Texture is perfect. No strings, no mush. No excess water. Flavor is mild but good. Not chewy at all. Reminds me of pork belly in texture. The beef rib is something. Too big for words (or eating) and too big for wallet ($38 for one rib). Good smoke and very beefy taste and chew. I’d call it a combination of braised beef with smoke and more salt.

  • Southside Market (Elgin) Brisket was yucky, mushy and bland. Like it was injected with water. Sausage was only ok. Very greasy. Surprisingly bland.

  • Opie’s (Spicewood) - dark bark. But stringy and a bit chewy. Strongest smoke flavor. Sausage was ok, needed more seasoning, had a bit of heat. Beans get special mention. I kept going back to them.

  • Coopers (Llano) - deep smoky flavor. Hard to cut and a bit stringing. Chewy, but not too chewy. Good sausage. Good seasoning, pop in the skin.


    Day 2 - Austin City Limits BBQ Royalty

  • La Barbeque - great brisket, finally the right texture again. Hot sausage…by far hottest of the trip. Very nice people.

  • Micklethwait - good brisket, decent sausage (very spicy). Solid. Great homemade pickles. Very nice people.

  • Kerlin - good brisket, meh sausage. First pork rib of the trip was very good. Even better homemade pickles. Very good sauce. Nicest people of the trip (gave me a free pork rib when I didn’t order one, insisting I try it. I’m glad they did).

  • Franklin - So the day before the lady said come around 1pm the wait should only be 30 minutes and we likely run out of things at 3pm. So, I showed up at 12:30 and waited about 45 minutes. I’m very glad I did. Good brisket, best lean cut yet. Sausage not good. Pork Rib was solid. They gave me a pile of free pulled pork because they wanted me to try it even though I didn’t order it. Was okay. Sauces are excellent (really excellent, perhaps the best BBQ sauce I’ve ever had).


    Day 3 - I can’t eat anymore BBQ! Ugh, beef coma. Can’t do another day. So, I take the day off to see Star Wars Rouge 1 in IMAX 3D.


    Day 4 - To the Temple’s in Lockhart

  • Kreuz - decent cheddar jalapeño sausage. Lean Brisket was very dry. Moist was a bit stringy.

  • Blacks - same as Kreuz.

  • Smittys - had to stand in a very hot very smoky room on a mid-80s day. I don’t know if they just started the fires or what, but it was filled with smoke. I left and came back and it had cleared a fair bit. Then I waited in line. Meh brisket and sausage, decent pork rib. Tried my first side of the trip, above average potato salad.


    Overall BBQ Impressions:

  • There is good brisket in Texas! I’ve never had what I would call good brisket anywhere prior to this trip).

  • But there is awful brisket in Texas too. Texture is the hardest gate to pass. Needs to be tender but firm. Not Watery nor mealy. Not stringy. Fat must be rendered and melted, not hard or gloppy.

  • The sausages were universally bland and all way, way, way too greasy. Somehow all of the sausage making knowledge did not leave Europe with the immigrants (there is better sausage on pretty much every corner of central and Eastern European cities).

  • I focused. I only ordered a slice of Moist and slice of Lean brisket and a sausage at each place. I avoided turkey and chicken. I also avoided sides except for pickles, bread and sauce (I did finally try the potato salad at my very last stop).

  • Turns out sauce can be a good thing. Especially with the dry and somehow bland lean cuts of brisket. Some sauces weren’t worth the squeeze. But a few were; franklin’s 3 sauces were among the best I’ve ever tried. There were a couple of others worth squeezing, notably Kerlin.

  • Now I get it! Plain old white bread does go with BBQ! At first, I said no. But then I learned the genius of making a brisket, sauce and dill pickle sandwich. It can save bad brisket (or mediocre brisket anyways).

  • Beef ribs - try it. Once. Then order pork ribs (with sauce). I had to try 1 beef rib on the trip and that, of course, had to be at Louie Muellers.


    The winners:

  • Best brisket - Louie Mueller, Franklin, La Barbeque

  • Best sausage - La Barbeque (very spicy), kreuz jalapeño cheddar

  • Best sides - Homemade pickles at Kerlin and Micklethwait

  • Best sauce - Franklin and Kerlin


    Grand Award Winners (aka “places I’d go back”):

  • La Barbeque

  • Louie Muellers

  • Franklin (only if the line is short)

HERE IS THE SECOND TRIP FROM LAST SEPT 2018:


BBQ Tour part II is in the books…

Day 1 we hit five spots:

Louie Mueller
La Barbecue (order ahead of time to skip the line)
Lockhart Big 3 (kreutz, smittys, blacks)

Best of the day was La Barbeque by some margin. Mueller was not as good as my last time there, but the beef rib was loved by all. Blacks was second place.

Day 2 another 5 spots:

John Mueller Black Box BBQ
Micklewaith
La Barbeque (order ahead of time to skip the line)
Kerlin
Stiles Switch

John Mueller’s newest place is something worth visiting…good bbq too. The man himself was there, which I discovered when a bearded guy yelled over to us “you gonna take photos of it or eat it? Stop taking pictures and eat” :slight_smile:

La Barbeque was not as strong as two days earlier. All of the places showed “ok” or better to my palate.

Lesson learned from revisiting many of these places…consistency is hard. The cue can vary from cow to cow and cook to cook.

My other takeaway from this second trip is that I really enjoyed the sausage this time. On the first trip I was disappointed by the links everywhere. This trip was the opposite, I had good spicy links virtually everywhere. Not sure why my palate changed on that.

This is great. I’m heading to Austin in mid-May for a work seminar. My wife may tag along, but we won’t know until last minute. Where should I eat in Austin (breakfast, lunch, and dinner)? I’m not a huge BBQ guy, but love a great taco. Open to all suggestions with bonus points for a place with amazing cocktails.

Tim,

What a fantastic trip and write up! I’m only sad you missed out on some really excellent Dallas and Fort Worth joints. Pecan Lodge is worth a special expedition on your next trip. The first time I ever went they had a wagyu brisket special and, to this day, it was easily the best barbecue, and maybe the best food, I’ve ever put in my mouth.

Your take on all things Texas is pretty spot on. San Antonio’s shining spots are tex-mex, the Alamo and Missions, though the area around the Alamo is a tourist trap so embarrassing that it is a sore spot of shame for San Antonio natives. Most folks are surprised at how small it really is. Glad you got a great guide, it’s been my experience that they are all wonderfully nice and knowledgeable. Always interested in folks’ take on the River Walk. None of the natives go unless there is a special Fiesta-related event. If you make it back for an adults trip, stay at the Emma Hotel in the Pearl Brewery District.

Austin traffic is horrible. Austin played the “keep Austin weird” and pro-green arguments for so long that infrastructure improvements are literally decades past due. I-35 down the dead center of the city, with it’s awkward an inefficient split deck, is probably the second worst major highway in any city in Texas. It is second only to Highway 1 in Austin, known to locals as Mopac. Mopac goes from three lanes in each direction down to two lanes in each direction on both sides of the central business district, causing miles-long traffic jams literally every morning and afternoon. There have been no efforts to address those roads. The attempted fixes are routing traffic in long arcs around the city (with extremely high speed limits to counterbalance the added miles). Given the sprawl, costs of light rail and projected usage did not, for ages, support the investment. As a result, Austin is mostly still sitting on 30 year old infrastructure that easily supported its population of 250,000 to 500,000 residents. Unfortunately, the Austin metro area now has 2.1 million residents, and Austin proper is around 1.2 million. A wonderful city with atrocious infrastructure. Gorgeous green spaces, though, and Barton Springs is wonderful. As a UT grad, I hope your family enjoyed the campus. It’s a wonderful place.

Glad you enjoyed the space center. I am a big fan and loved going as a kid. I had most of my extended family in or around Galveston and Houston, and used to look forward to those trips. I’ll have to take my boys this summer.

Cheers!

I was in Austin this past Tuesday - Friday for a work conference. I snuck out as best as possible for food and drink.

Highlights were Franklin BBQ. My buddy arranged for takeout and we got 10lbs of ribs, brisket, pulled pork and sausage with all the sides. Brought it back to the hotel and a bunch of us chowed down. I thought the brisket was probably the best I’ve ever had and I loved to expresso bbq sauce with it. I thought the ribs were great too. Sausage was fine, but not really special, and I didn’t love the pulled pork (too gelatinous).

Bufalina was super. Closest thing I can find to it is Pasquale Jones. The pizza was great and the kampachi crudo was outstanding. The wine list is literally off the charts and wine is served in Zaltos. Followed this up with a stop at Midnight Cowboy. I love the speakeasy/craft cocktail concept and Midnight Cowboy delivered.

Veracruz All Natural for lunch provided a great breakfast taco (Migas Originales) but the fish taco was literally the best fish taco I’ve ever had and by a pretty decent margin. All other fish tacos should be ashamed of themselves.

We went to check out the bats at the Congress Street bridge. Waited over an hour, but apparently they were particularly sleepy because we didn’t see one bat.

I really blew it by attended too many work dinners and lunches at mediocre places. I wish that I explored Austin more. Bottom line for me is that I really loved what I saw and what I ate.

PS. The electric scooter thing going on in Austin is great. I scooted everywhere!

I was really dubious of Veracruz cause breakfast tacos seem so… bleh to me. But man those were good tacos.

My 2 year old ate a fish taco (or just the fish and tortilla) and demanded a second one. We cut her off from a third one.

LOL. I had to cut myself off from a third one because I was having dinner 3 hours later. You’re in LA so I assume there are great tacos all over, but here, they aren’t as readily available. Empellon has some amazing tacos, but they are fancy tacos…you know…lobster tacos, corned beef tacos, etc. I love them, but they are five times the price.

My biggest regret from this trip was that I wanted to see the keynote speaker, but I had to leave for the airport and was only going to see about 15 minutes of his 1 hour talk. So I watched the 15 minutes. In hindsight, I should have skipped the keynote because I wasn’t going to see the whole thing anyway and gone to Veracruz for breakfast.

In the museum district you missed the chance to eat at the Pit Room. The brisket is on par with what I’ve had at killens and in Lockhart.

All I truly know about Texas BBQ is Killen’s but what I know is gooooooood.